Rafting Trip
by Lindelas
Summary: The treasure hunting gang goes on a rafting trip, expecting to have a nice, calm vacation, but Riley, as we all know, is accident prone and things get a bit more serious than they would like. Non-slash. Some mild injuries and peril
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This isn't my first NT story, but I think it's probably better. I might post my first story on here when my wonderful beta gets done with it, even though it is riddled with problems in my opinion..._

_Thanks so much to my beta, Raina! She puts up with my bad editing habits and catches all the stuff I miss in the frenzy of writing. You're awesome, mellon nin!_

-

Riley's POV

When you find an amazing treasure that 'redefines history for all mankind' and end up with $50,000,000 overnight, a trip across country to the Salmon River in Idaho isn't really a big deal. There are advantages to being 'comfortably well off.'

Ben called and asked me if I wanted to go. I almost said no. Abigail and Ben are my two favourite people in the world, but to be honest, at times I feel like a third arm. If they wanted a fun, romantic vacation, I certainly didn't want to be in the way.

"Uh, Ben, you do realize you're calling me only two days before the fact, right?"

"Yeah. Sorry about that. It was kind of a spontaneous decision on our part, but we were still hoping you could go. My parents are coming too."

Hmm... that changed things a little...

"Is there going to be a lot of kissing involved? Because I've hung out with two sets of married people before, and I've noticed it can get a little disgusting - especially for a single guy... and if there's near-death experiences involved, it's worse."

I heard a stifled laugh on the other line. "I promise, Riley. Kissing will be kept to a minimum."

"How about the near-death experiences?"

"Riley, it's a rafting trip."

I mimicked his voice, "'I'm gonna steal the Declaration of Independence.' You always make these things sound like no big deal, and then we end up almost getting killed."

"Can you come or not?" The guy is not easily detoured.

"Fine. Since your parents will be there to supervise, I think I can squeeze it in."

"Great. I'll see you Friday then."

"Cool. And Ben?"

"What?"

"Thanks for inviting me."

NTNTNTNTNTNTNTNT

The plane ride was so freaking long I thought I was going to go insane. Some people would argue that I already am, but what do they know?

We put down in Lewiston late on Friday night and staggered into a motel, barely awake. I collapsed into bed and swore I was not waking up until the jet lag wore off.

Ben crashed that plan by banging into my room at some unearthly hour of morning... I glanced with bleary eyes at the bedside clock. Make that afternoon.

"Riley, if you sleep any more, we're going to miss the bus."

"I'll catch the next one," I mumbled into the pillow. Why does Ben always have so much energy?

"I don't think so. If you don't get up, I'm going to sic my mother on you."

I raised my head and looked at him. He was dead serious. "Now that's just downright cruel, Ben."

"Hey, I had to suffer through it as a child, no reason you shouldn't have to as well." He shrugged. "Bus leaves in half an hour."

I threw a pillow at him and escaped into the bathroom before he could retaliate. The water helped me wake up and to everyone's astonishment, I was actually ready by the time the bus left Lewiston, albeit, a little dishevelled.

The bus ride was not quite as boring as the plane ride; mostly because it wasn't as long, and when I wasn't sleeping, there was some really great scenery.

In the last half hour of the trip though, Ben started rattling on about some obscure facts involving Lewis and Clark's expedition and that put me right back to sleep. Not that I wasn't interested, but I was still tired and Ben has a very mesmerizing, monotone voice when he tells stories. It's going to be great if he ever has kids that don't like to sleep. They won't stand a chance.

Abigail woke me up by dropping my bag in my lap. "How can you sleep so much? We're in Riggins. Come on!"

"Jet lag, Abigail. I don't suppose you've ever suffered from it?" I snarled good-naturedly.

"Not as badly as you, apparently." She grinned and led the way off the bus. She was really happy to be getting away from the rat-race of D.C. living, and despite my complaining, I was really glad to be along for the fun as well. I had been rafting once when I was little and that had pretty much cured me of ever wanting to do it again. But I had only been eight, and I figured it couldn't possibly be as scary now at twenty-six.

"You awake yet, kiddo?" Patrick asked me as I staggered off the bus step. Patrick is the only one I allow to call me 'kiddo' without complaint. I guess it's because he's soooo much older than me, and because he's so much of a father figure that I don't mind. When Ben tries to pull the 'kid' stunt, there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

"Getting there," I replied, shouldering my bag and looking around me. It was quite the culture shock. Riggins was _tiny_. I mean, we're talking one little two-lane street running through the middle of town, and only two gas stations. You could seriously walk lazily across main street without using a cross walk and not have to worry about getting hit.

The whole place was squashed in between bare, brown hills that made up a seemingly never-ending canyon in north and south directions.

"Talk about getting away from it all," I muttered. "Ben, did you like choose the red-neck capital of the world for our vacation?"

"Be nice, Riley. Their white water rafting is suppose to be the best."

I was astonished. I hadn't seen the population sign on the way into town, but I was pretty sure it was like, ten. Maybe a few more during tourist season. We'll make it fifteen all together.

"OK. But do they have food?"

Ben shook his head with a long-suffering smile. I've noticed I tend to have that effect on people. "Tell you what, why don't you guys go get dinner across the street while I figure out our itinerary and do paperwork for the raft?"

"You're offering to do the dirty work while we go eat? Sweet! I'll save you some fries."

"Generous of you." He rolled his eyes. "Abigail, make sure the walking mouth gets enough food."

"Hey!" I protested, but Abigail had already grabbed my arm and was dragging me across the street while Ben went to procure our raft.

"The only time he's ever quiet…" She teased.

"It's a conspiracy!" I wailed.

"You only just discovered that, Riley?" Emily joined in. It's scary how much she's like Abigail. Stands to reason I guess...

"Well, I'm a little slow on the uptake this morning." I admitted with a shrug.

"It's after five in the afternoon, Riley." Abigail reminded me with a snort.

"I just woke up. It _feels_ like morning." I defended myself indignantly.

"That place looks good." Patrick thankfully rescued me from more female abuse by pointing to a small restaurant to our left. "What do you think?"

"As long as they don't serve 'grilled groundhog leg,' then it's all good with me," I said.

Emily shook her head with a smile. "Riley dear, I think you keep me young."

Ben joined us half an hour later and Abigail pulled the pizza box from beneath my protection and shoved it across the table to him. Give me credit, I had saved him a couple pieces.

"We're all set," Ben said, selecting a piece from the box. "This is going to be great. One more night in a motel, and tomorrow under the stars."

"How poetic. Do I get to sleep in tomorrow before you subject me to the glories of sleeping on the hard ground?" I asked snidely.

"Is 7:30 a.m. late enough for you?" He returned.

I groaned and dropped my head onto the table. "Not nice."

NTNTNTNTNTNTNTNT

The next day was sunny and perfect for the beginning of our trip. Ben had rented a huge blue raft and we were soon lazily floating down the river. One of Ben's hidden talents turned out to be experience in rafting, so we hadn't needed a guide. Just a bunch of maps and camping gear.

My laptop was stowed in the waterproof box under the seat, and I was happily lazing cat-style on the edge of the raft, soaking in the bright rays of sun with one foot dangling in the cool water. This. Was. Great. I was so glad they had invited me to come.

"It's so calm!" Emily commented, gazing at the expanse of brown canyon before us.

Ben smiled. "Actually, it's going to get a little rough around this next bend, according to the map. Riley, you may want to put your life-jacket back on, because you are going to fall off if you stay there."

I sat up and glared at him. "Dang, Ben. I was comfy." I slid the life-preserver on and sat down inside the raft in what I hoped was a wave-free area.

Ben shrugged. "Blame the river."

"It's more fun to blame you."

We heard rapids up ahead and Emily started to look a little nervous. "Benjamin, are you sure you know how to do this?"

"It's fine, Mom. I spent half an hour with one of the best guides on the river and we marked all the places on the map -which I studied carefully last night, by the way- that I need to watch for. Don't worry. Just remember the safety tips we went over."

Before we started, Ben had gone over all the "what to do's" if the raft capsized and stuff like that. The thing that struck me as funny is that you are supposed to remember all this stuff while you're being swirled around under water with a huge raft on top of you.

"Ok, guys. Hang on," Ben said, skillfully maneuvering the oars.

I could see the white water in front of our raft, rising and dipping like miniature mountains and valleys with roiling green waves and I suddenly had a very important question.

"Ben, is there any place in the raft where I won't get wet?" I yelled over the roar.

In response, Ben grinned. "Not really."

Great.

We plunged in between the two biggest waves, and water washed all over us as the raft bucked back and forth. Both Abigail and Emily shrieked while Ben and Patrick laughed. I think I was doing both until my mouth filled with water. It was so cold! But _so_ much fun.

As we got back into calmer water we all took a collective breath and blinked the moisture out of our eyes. I'm not sure how they did it, but Patrick and Emily had managed to stay fairly dry in the back of the raft. Abigail and I had been on the front and we were soaked.

"Nice cow lick, Riley." Abigail laughed, ruffling my slightly over-long hair that was now plastered all over my forehead and obviously sticking out in odd directions. "And you didn't even fall out. I'm impressed."

"There's still a lot of rapids ahead of us," Ben said. "He's still got time to fall out."

I rung out my soaking t-shirt after slipping out of my life vest again. "What? I'm not wet enough for you?" I sat back on the edge of the raft which turned out to be a mistake because while I was preoccupied trying to get dry, Patrick pushed me in!

I came up spluttering to see everyone laughing - in Patrick's case, evilly. The man has a wicked sense of humour when he decides to exercise it.

I looked around for a fish to throw at them, but didn't have any luck. "This means war," I promised, splashing them as much as possible while I climbed back into the raft (far more difficult than it looks). "I know where you all sleep."


	2. Chapter 2

Ben's POV

Riley actually did succeed in paying my dad back pretty well. He had smuggled a Super Soaker into his bag. Don't ask me how he did it. It was one of those Riley things that only Riley can pull off.

He kept it hidden until our next day on the river after a peacefully quiet night camped on a sandbar. Then when my dad had almost fallen asleep in the warm sun during a calm patch of water, Riley let him have it.

Then he also let me have it, just on principle. But when he aimed at Abigail, she wrestled the water gun away from him, and with my help, Riley again ended up in the water.

"No fair!" he whined.

"How do you expect to have allies when you go spraying everyone with water?" Abigail laughed.

"I didn't get Emily wet." Riley flashed his most winning smile toward my mom. That expression is usually quite effective, but looked pretty funny right now because he was treading water.

"Don't try to butter me up, Riley. You're worse than Ben."

If he hadn't been in the water, I think he would have bowed. "Thanks, Emily."

Later in the afternoon, we stopped on a sandbar for lunch. There were a lot of people on this part of the river, so it wasn't easy finding a sandbar all to ourselves.

Riley finally got himself dried out and proceeded to hoard all the cookies to himself after devouring two sandwiches. Kid has a metabolism like an eight-year-old.

"I think we should do this every year," Abigail said, leaning against me happily.

"You're enjoying yourself, then?" I asked, knowing that she was. She nodded and gave me a discreet peck on the cheek.

"Very much."

"Ben, what are those?" Riley asked, pointing to the opposite hills. "They're everywhere."

I looked where he was pointing and saw three dark holes in the side of the mountain. "Old mine shafts. This area is rich with various precious metals and minerals. Some of them are still used. In fact-"

"Hey, Ben?" Riley interrupted. "If you're going to go off on a history rant, then I must warn you that between the two of us, Abigail and I _can_ hold your head under water."

Abigail threw me a mischievous sideways glance. "It is your turn, you know. I think we've picked on Riley enough."

I started to protest, but before I knew it, Abigail and Riley, by mutual consent, jumped up and managed to drag me to the water. Ignoring my yells, they dunked my head under and ran back to the beach, laughing happily. Mom and Dad joined in as I shook water out of my hair, unable to help a smile as I waded back to shore. I would be the first to admit I had that coming.

NTNTNTNTNTNTNTNT

The next night as we set up our tents in the early evening, Riley asked one of the questions I had been expecting of him the entire trip.

"Ben? Are there cougars in Idaho?"

"Yes…" I answered slowly.

"Are they dangerous?" He was in the midst of battling with a tent pole, and the tent pole was winning.

"Don't worry, Riley." My dad got a wicked gleam in his eye that only I caught. Riley missed it because he was still fiddling with the tent. "They only attack people when provoked."

"Or if they're really hungry," I added. Oh, we could get so much out of this one if we played it right. "And they only pick off stragglers."

The tent pole hovered over Riley's head as he looked at us, blue eyes widening fractionally.

"But you don't have anything to worry about...except…" My Dad shook his head without finishing the sentence. "Never mind."

"What, what?!"

"Well, you are the only one _alone_ in a tent," I said helpfully.

"I uh…" Riley glanced around nervously in the growing dark. Abigail and Emily were setting up my parent's tent a few yards away. Riley was indeed the only member of our group that had a tent all to himself.

He laughed nervously. "You guys are totally pulling my leg, and I'm not going to fall for it. Nice try." After a final silent tantrum, he managed to shove the tent pole through the stubborn silk loops.

"Ok," Dad said with a shrug. "Don't say we didn't warn you."

Riley rolled his eyes and drove in a tent peg, narrowly missing his fingers with the hammer. "Yeah, thanks."

"Oh, and by the way," Dad added. "It's an interesting fact that cougars make a sound like a woman's scream when they hunt."

"Fascinating," I said sincerely, an evil plan forming in my mind as I finished with mine and Abigail's tent. I saw Riley swallow a gulp as he pounded another tent peg.

We ate our dinner around the fire and retired to our tents as we had every night before. But I couldn't sleep. This was just too good an opportunity to miss. It wasn't every day I was able to play on my best friend's gullibility.

"Abigail?"

"What, Ben?" she murmured sleepily.

"Wanna do something fun?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What sort of fun are we speaking of?"

 "Riley is afraid of cougars."

Abigail shook her head. "If you go out and make noise, he's going to know it's you. He'll never fall for it."

"That's why _you_ would make the noise," I said as if it was the most brilliant plan in the world. "Then when he yells at me to quit scaring him, I'm right here."

"Oh sure. Make me do the dirty work." Abigail rolled her eyes.

"Please?" I threw her my best puppy eyes. "It would be hilarious."

"You know, Ben, Riley is not the only _child_ we have along on this trip. You and Patrick are just as bad, if not worse."

"Your point?"

"You ought to be ashamed." Abigail tried to hide a smile as she sat up and slid her sweatshirt on over her pajamas. "I can't believe I'm doing this." She pulled on her hiking boots and quietly unzipped the tent.

She held up a warning finger and shot me a glare. "You owe me. And if he retaliates, it will be on _you_."

I smirked and settled myself back to enjoy the show, watching as Abigail silently crept along to a patch of sparse trees behind Riley's tent. I could barely see her dark form as she crouched down behind some branches. I knew that despite her complaining, she would enjoy this as much as me.

I saw her move and heard the sound of a branch breaking. When that elicited no response from Riley's tent, she broke another one, louder this time and then threw one of the sticks over next to Riley's tent where it would be sure to wake him.

Then I heard a low, guttural growling sound and blinked. I had no idea that Abigail could sound that much like a large cat. One of her hidden talents apparently. She was really going all out on this one. I smiled. If Dad heard it, he would play right along. This was going to be great! Any minute now, Riley would either come flying out of his tent or start yelling at me.

A high-pitched shriek split the silence and I was surprised out of my mind when Abigail came flying out of the darkness, nearly knocking me over in her haste to re-enter our tent. "Ben, there's a real one! I heard it!" she gasped, her eyes wide as dinner plates. "It was right behind me!"

Frowning in confusion, I looked outside at the surrounding area, lightly illuminated by the half moon. There was just no way that there was a real cougar... was there?

"Did you hear it scream?" Abigail squeaked.

"I thought that was you," I muttered, still scanning the trees where Abigail had been hiding.

"Ben? Were you trying to scare Riley?" My dad called from the other tent. That eliminated him as a possibility.

"No. Wasn't me," I called back.

I was completely puzzled with the whole thing until I realized that Riley hadn't said a word. Heavy sleeper though he is, that scream would have woken the dead.

It dawned on me at the exact moment that a burst of laughter reached us and Riley's slender form emerged from the thick bushes near Abigail's hiding place. "That was great!" he laughed. "You should have seen the look on Abigail's face. It was classic!" he gasped between bouts of uncontrolled giggles. "I've never seen her run so fast!"

Abigail jumped to her feet and marched toward the young prankster with every intention of throwing him in the river, no doubt. "Riley Poole! I am going to kill you! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She changed her mind and seized a pillow from our tent before turning back to him.

"Turn-about is fair play!" Riley protested, backing away from her, still doubled over and laughing helplessly. "You were trying to scare me. You make a lousy cougar, Abigail! I can't believe you let Ben talk you into it!"

"Argh!!!" She clocked him with the pillow. "You're impossible! I hope a real one eats you!" she stormed, trying to hide a smile as Riley dodged behind a tree to avoid the furiously swinging pillow.

Abigail shook her head with a fond laugh, giving up her attack since Riley had actually scrambled into the lower branches of his tree. "Riley, are you ever going to grow up?"

Riley smirked from the branch above her head. "Aw, Abigail, if I grew up, your life would be _sooo_ boring."

_A/N: Credit must go to my sister, who came up with the idea of Riley backfiring Ben's plan. I was just going to have Ben scare Riley, but my brilliant sis said it would be more fun if Ri turned the tables on them. She was right. Kudos to her!_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thanks to everyone for the reviews! You make me feel all warm and fuzzy, especially since this is the first story I've posted!_

_I'm still trying to get used to everything here on . So far, the website has been winning the battle, but hopefully everything is now fixed in the first two chapters. I apologize for the sloppiness!_

--

Riley's POV

I could really get used to this. Spending most of the sunny days lazily floating down the river, and the nights sleeping peacefully under the stars after dinner around the campfire. It was great.

After the cougar incident, the practical jokes died down. Ben and I might have kept it up, but Emily and Abigail insisted that they wanted to get at least a little sleep on this trip. Patrick was more or less neutral on the subject.

So to keep our lives from becoming boring, I proceeded to nearly get myself, Ben, and Abigail killed the next day.

In the late afternoon, we decided to set up camp earlier than usual. The reason being that Abigail had noticed an interesting trail leading up through the canyon and insisted on exploring it. We parked the raft (ha, ha) and pulled on dry clothes plus hiking boots. I whined about the hiking boots because they didn't feel as comfy as my Converse, but in the end, practicality won out. Besides, my Converse were wet.

After setting up the tents and getting things situated for our return, Abigail led the way up the winding trail, threading through thick brush and around the occasional tree. I complained for a while, until I realized that no one was listening and then I gave up and tried to enjoy the scenery.

Pretty soon we met up with a stream winding its way down to join the river. As we hopped across it, I noticed one of those mine shafts that I had asked Ben about earlier. It was set into a hill and partially hidden by a large patch of sagebrush and rock a few yards off the trail.

I was bored and definitely tired of crawling up the hill behind everyone, so I didn't think it would be a bad idea to take a little side trip. In theory, it would only take me a minute to walk over there, take a quick peek inside, and satisfy my curiosity. The trouble with theories however, is that they don't always turn out as planned.

Ditching my backpack next to the trail, I scrambled over some rocks, trying to avoid spraining my ankle in the big, clumsy hiking boots, and thrust my way through the thick bushes covering the hole.

I've always had a love/hate relationship with caves of any kind. Mostly, I hate them. They're dark, scary, tight, and potentially life-threatening. But there's also a morbid curiosity that I've always felt linked up with holes in the ground. Never been able to explain it. You'd think if I have a phobia for caves, I'd stay away from them, right? But for some reason I always wonder what I might find if I dare to explore within their dark depths. Actually, my fascination for caves was relatively dormant until I met Ben, darn him.

The shaft entrance was only about as high as I was tall (or short, as the case may be) and unadorned except for the remnants of some wooden planking along the edge to brace the opening, making a sort of door.

Holding onto the wood, I leaned inside to look. And then I almost wished I hadn't. _There was no floor_. Beneath my feet was an empty, pitch dark space, stretching beyond into the earth for who knew how far. The only thing between me and the bottomless pit of doom were two rotting beams that looked like they used to be part of a mine cart rail, but it had long since broken a few feet out and now simply hung over nothingness.

If a scary cave wasn't bad enough, a scary cave with no visible floor was worse. If I had known that a quick glance into an old mine shaft would bring me this close to bottomless terror, I would have stayed on the trail. With a sharp intake of breath, I moved to step away from the entrance, vowing never to go so close to a cave again without multiple safety harnesses.

The sharp intake of breath turned into a terrified yelp as the ground I had been standing on shifted forward and collapsed beneath me. In panic, I scrambled for a hold on the planking, dirt, or anything within reach, but it didn't do any good. In a split second, I was plummeting into dark space.

I landed on my shoulder with a sickening popping noise. My first thought was that I hadn't really fallen very far, and that I was still alive. I knew that because when I tried to move, my shoulder exploded in fiery agony. For a second it was so bad I couldn't breathe, and then I panicked because when I tried to breath again, I couldn't. The force of the fall had knocked the wind out of me and done something horribly painful to my shoulder.

_Calm down, Riley! Calm down. _I told myself firmly, forcing myself to draw slow, deep breaths. My gasping fish-noises echoed in the deep darkness enveloping me. All I could see was the small patch of light somewhere above my head. I shut my eyes tightly, still forcing air into my lungs until I could breath normally.

"Riley? Riley! Can you hear me?"

I dimly heard Ben's voice somewhere above me and a dusty flashlight beam met my gaze as I opened my eyes. "Ben?" I managed to choke out, wincing at the pitifully shaky sound of my own voice. I could vaguely see Ben and Abigail's outlines in the shaft opening. Surprisingly, it looked like they were only about twelve to fifteen feet above me. Not that that wasn't far enough to be a painful fall, but it wasn't the center of the earth as I had first thought.

"Riley, are you ok?" Ben's voice was steady, as usual, but I didn't miss the concerned older brother tone it held.

"Um...no," I answered truthfully. I tried to shift again and barely managed to bite back a scream as pain flooded my shoulder anew.

"Something's wrong with my shoulder. I can't move." I shut my eyes again and tried not to panic. Ben was there, and Abigail, and Emily, and Patrick. They would get me out. They wouldn't leave me alone.

Abigail's strained voice filtered down to me. "Riley, just hold on. We're coming down."

"Ok." I took a deep shuddering breath and forced myself to be calm. The dark around me felt so close and suffocating that I could hardly breathe, and it was impossible to ignore the sharp pain in my shoulder as if someone had lit it on fire.

_Please, please hurry!_

_--_

A/N: Very short chapter. Sorry about that. No worries. I will get Riley out of his latest scrape! I don't have the heart to leave him down there for too long. heh heh. :)


	4. Chapter 4

_AN/ I just realized that I didn't have a disclaimer at the beginning, so..._

**Disclaimer: I don't own National Treaure or any of the characters. If I did, Abigail and Ben would have been MARRIED!!!! Ahem, word to the wise-don't get me started!**

Ben's POV

"Don't be ridiculous!" Mom said for the third time. "It isn't safe, you can't just climb down there. Look what happened to Riley!"

"Mom," I took a deep breath and tried to make my point again. I knew I would regret it if I lost patience with my mother. "Abigail has a rope in her pack. I can see the bottom. If I'm careful, I'll be fine. I just need to get down there with him to see how badly he's hurt. It can't wait."

Mom looked like she wanted to hit me. "Patrick, tell him how dangerous this is!" She turned to Dad who rolled his eyes.

"Ben-" he began, but I cut him off. I knew how Riley felt about caves and I wasn't going to leave him alone down there a minute longer than necessary.

"Look, Dad, I'm going down there. You go back to the raft and get the other rope in case we need more length. Mom, you be ready to use the flare gun and signal for help if we need it." I didn't wait for them to start arguing again.

"Abigail…" I turned to Abigail who was crouched next to the shaft opening, avoiding the argument altogether. She turned at the sound of her name.

"Ben, I think we can-" Suddenly her eyes widened in terror and she screamed as the ground shifted beneath her. I shouted her name and made a dive for her flailing hands, but I wasn't fast enough. Abigail slid into the empty space behind her, but she managed to grab hold of one of the mine cart beams, stopping her descent.

"Abigail!" I almost jumped after her, but Dad stopped me.

"Ben, it isn't safe. The whole thing's liable to collapse. Ben, hold it!"

I jerked away from him and stood where I thought the ground was firm beneath my feet. "Abigail? Just hang on. I'm gonna get you out." My mind was racing wildly as I looked for a way to get closer to her.

"Ben! Ben, I'm slipping!" Abigail cried, shifting her grip on the old wood.

I threw caution to the wind and pitched myself forward, bracing against the other beam and stretching my hand toward Abigail.

"Abigail, listen to me, if you fall, you need to break and roll, do you understand? Distribute the energy. Don't panic, and try to land carefully." I couldn't believe I was telling her that, but it might save her life if I couldn't reach her.

She gritted her teeth and tried to nod. "Yes."

"Can you reach?" I asked as I inched forward carefully, hoping the beam wouldn't break under my weight.

She had just touched my fingertips when the treacherous ground holding the beams gave way, and we both plunged downward into the shaft. Abigail shrieked, and I heard my mother scream my name, but surprisingly, I followed my own advice and hit the bottom of the shaft in a painful roll.

I covered my head and curled into a ball as dust, rock, and remnants of the beams rained down on me. When it finally stopped I was half buried in rubble and the light from above was completely gone. The entrance had caved and we were trapped.

This realization didn't bother me nearly as much as the wellbeing of my wife and best friend. As soon as the roaring of tumbling earth ceased, I fought my way clear of the debris, discovering in the process that I had sprained my wrist and twisted my knee in the fall. I hadn't even noticed at first because of the adrenaline rush.

"Abigail! Riley! Can you hear me?" I coughed on the dust and searched in my pocket for the flashlight, hoping it hadn't been broken in the fall.

"Ben, where are you?" Abigail's voice had never sounded sweeter and I crawled toward it, still fumbling with the flashlight.

"I'm here. Are you okay? Can you find Riley?"

I heard a snort of sarcastic laughter from Riley. "Oh she's fine, Ben. She had a cushioned landing."

I finally managed to flick the flashlight on and beamed it toward the sound of the voices. Abigail was kneeling beside Riley's prone form, and both were covered in dust, but they were alive.

I swept Abigail into my arms and held her close for a moment. That fall could have killed her. "You're all right? You're not hurt?"

She smiled apologetically and nodded against my shoulder. "I actually landed partially on Riley. I'm fine, Ben. Promise."

I nodded in relief and hugged her once more before letting go. "Thank God."

"In case anyone's interested, I'm no worse off than before. Except possibly a collapsed lung and a permanent indentation in my ribcage where Abigail landed." Riley informed us.

I turned to my best friend and looked him over. His face was unnaturally pale in the dim light, and he was sporting a split lip and who knew what else. One of the heavy beams had landed only inches from his head. But despite how terrible he looked, I managed to smile at his remark. "I knew there was a reason I kept you around."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" he asked indignantly, then winced. "Ow... Oh man, Ben, it really hurts!"

"Your shoulder?" I confirmed, gently running my hands over his twisted limb. I couldn't see the damage with his sweatshirt in the way.

 "Yeah, I don't know if it's broken, but I can't move it."

I handed the flashlight to Abigail and carefully started to disentangle Riley from his hoodie. "Can't? Or don't want to?" I asked. "You can feel it, right?" If he couldn't actually feel his arm, this might be worse than a break.

He rolled his eyes. "Ok, let me rephrase. I _can_ move it, but not without severe pain, and I don't like pain."

I smiled and shook my head fondly. "Then why on earth did you stick your head into an abandoned mine shaft? That's one of the easiest ways to run into trouble in this part of the world."

Riley scowled. "Nice of you to tell me. Ow! Geez, Ben!" He gritted his teeth as I accidentally jostled his arm. Abigail laid her hand comfortingly on his other shoulder.

I spoke quickly to distract him as I worked the sweatshirt off his injured arm, trying to ignore the throbbing in my own wrist. "Well, I might have told you, but when I tried, you threw me in the river."

"It was your turn," he muttered, shutting his eyes tight.

I finally got the sweatshirt off and frowned as I examined his upper arm and shoulder. There were no protruding bones and no breaks that I could find. Even his collarbone seemed intact, which after a fall like that was a bit astounding. "Where exactly does it hurt?" I asked.

"Right along the joint," he answered through his teeth.

That explained it. "Your shoulder is dislocated," I told him grimly. "I'm going to have to put it back in place. It's going to hurt, but it will feel better afterwards."

He nodded without opening his eyes. "Ok Ben."

Sometimes Riley's unconditional trust in me floors me. He was in severe pain and I was about to make it worse before it got better, and all he could say was "Ok Ben"?! The scary part was that I knew enough about Riley to know that he wasn't that trusting with most people. But for whatever reason, he had chosen me for his friend and his loyalty was absolute.

I took a deep breath. "Abigail, can you hold his other arm?"

"I promise I won't punch you, Ben. Even if it does hurt," Riley assured me as Abigail held onto his hand.

I smiled. "Actually, I'm not too worried about that. I just don't want you moving around while I do this."

Riley tried to look indignant. "Should I take that as an insult?"

"If you want." I shrugged, concentrating on rotating his arm correctly. Riley gasped and all the humour left his face. I nodded quickly to Abigail and yanked sharply. Riley screamed in surprise and pain, but I felt the shoulder slide back into place, and in a minute his face relaxed and his breathing returned to normal.

"Ok, kid?" I asked, pushing the sweaty brown hair off his forehead, feeling miserable and relieved at the same time. That had been awful - for Riley and me.

"Yeah. Thanks Ben." He struggled into a sitting position and was immediately caught in a hug from Abigail.

"I hope you realize you're a great pillow, Riley," she teased, and I saw her scrub a tear from her cheek. He hugged her back reassuringly.

"No problem Abs. I'm ok. You didn't squish me too badly." Then he grinned devilishly. "But you really should quit feeding her so well, Ben. She felt like a load of bricks!"

Abigail smacked him and I laughed, despite our dangerous predicament. Riley was still bruised from his fall and his shoulder would probably ache for a while, but if he was able to pick on Abigail then he was obviously feeling better. "Quit using up the oxygen, children," I admonished, standing cautiously to my feet. Abigail noticed me favouring one leg and her smile disappeared.

"Ben, are you hurt?" she demanded.

I thought about brushing it off, but decided it wouldn't do me any good. "I twisted my knee and I think I sprained my wrist," I admitted. "There was a shortage of soft computer geeks to land on," I added with a smile.

"He wasn't that soft," Abigail muttered as she examined my wrist, running her hands over it fretfully. It was darkly bruised and swollen, but there wasn't much we could do about it now.

"Dude, you just set my shoulder with a sprained wrist? Impressive," Riley said.

"Ben, what are we going to do?" Abigail asked, beaming the flashlight around the space we were standing in. We were trapped in an old mine shaft, miles away from anything, with nothing but a small flashlight and the contents of Abigail's backpack to help us. Our prospects did not look promising.

"I don't know," I admitted truthfully, taking the flashlight from Abigail and looking around. It was so dark that we could only see what the small light touched. We were standing in a space only about twenty feet wide, with the ceiling above us maxing out at approximately fifteen feet in one place. The walls that surrounded us were mostly solid rock and hard-packed dirt. Where the entrance used to be there was only a huge pile of collapsed earth and rock.

Riley seemed to realize for the first time the full implications of our situation. His blue eyes widened and his gaze darted around nervously as I played my flashlight around our prison. But he didn't say anything. He had come a long way from the time we had been trapped under Trinity Church.

At the time, we had both lost our cool; he in his fear of being trapped underground and me at his pessimism while I was trying to think. I mentally winced at the memory. He had been hardly more than a scared kid at the time and I had yelled at him for it. Actually, if I hadn't had Ian breathing down my neck I might not have lost my temper with Riley, but the memory still stung all the same.

Since that time, Riley had matured, and I had learned to be a better friend. Riley was willing to trust me with more than his life, even in a situation like this. His uncharacteristic silence at this point was proof of that. He was trusting me to find a way out of this, and the thought that I might fail him in that trust made me sick. There was less guarantee of escaping from here than in Cibola.

"The first thing we need to do is carefully check around all the perimeter to see if there's another way out," I said. "Abigail, I don't suppose you've got another flashlight in your pack?"

She frowned in thought. "I might. I can't remember." She took off the bag and began rummaging through it.

"Girl's never remember half the stuff they're packing around." Riley rolled his eyes.

"And you're suddenly an expert?" Abigail retorted.

Riley shrugged. "Jacqueline usually can't find anything in her purse either. I figure it's a general rule of thumb for females." His eyes grew serious again and I suspected he was thinking about Jacqueline. Since meeting her at the Mt. Rushmore party, their relationship had been simply friendly, but sometimes I wondered if Riley wanted to make it more.

"Ha! Found it," Abigail said triumphantly, bringing another small flashlight out of her pack. She handed it to me and we began to circle the perimeter of the cave, looking for another passage.

"There's nothing," Abigail said despondently as we met back where we started.

Riley coughed. "Ben, it's getting kind of hard to breathe." He said quietly.

I noticed for the first time that the air was getting thicker. Because of the dust, it had been bad to begin with, but it seemed to be getting worse. If there was no outlet, we would eventually run out of air.

"All right. Sit down, and try to breathe slowly," I told them. "Mom and Dad are frantic by now and they'll be getting help."

"We can't just wait for them to dig us out," Abigail protested.

"Do you have a better idea?" I asked, trying not to lose my patience.

Abigail apparently did not and she sat down against the wall beside me, glaring daggers at the opposite wall. Probably hoping she could melt it.

Riley sat down opposite from us and drew his knees to his chest. His eyes never left off darting around, like a small, frightened animal. I would have gotten smacked if I had voiced that one out loud.

Suddenly he sat up straight and threw his hand behind him on the wall, feeling around intently. "I can feel air," he said. "Ben, there's...there's air coming through here."

Abigail and I quickly crawled over to him with our flashlights and examined the spot he indicated. It was a miniscule crack running up the rock and out of sight at the ceiling.

"It almost looks like there's a shelf of some kind up there," Abigail said thoughtfully, as she shined her flashlight above our heads. "Maybe the crack widens out?"

"Well, we can find out," I said. "Abigail, I can try to boost you up to see. You'll have to stand on my shoulders to be high enough though."

Abigail looked at me skeptically and Riley shook his head. "Ben, you've got a twisted knee and a sprained wrist. You can't lift Abigail on your shoulders. I'll do it."

"Riley, you just had your shoulder dislocated," I protested.

He rotated the shoulder around without a wince. "It feels fine. I'll be less likely to drop her as you seem so fond of doing." He finished with a grin.

"He's right, Ben," Abigail agreed. "It would be safer if Riley did it. I've had enough falling for one day, thank you very much," she added with a small smile.

I was unhappy about it, but they were right. My wrist was swollen and throbbing and I wouldn't be able to support Abigail's weight very well with my knee out of kilter. "All right. Let's do it," I agreed.

Abigail removed her hiking boots, and Riley crouched down against the wall, low enough for Abigail to climb unsteadily onto his shoulders and balance by holding the wall. Then when she was ready, Riley struggled to stand up, holding onto her ankles for additional support.

"Holy cow, Abigail!" he complained. "You're heavier than you look!"

"Don't you say another word, Riley Poole!" Abigail growled warningly, struggling to keep from digging her foot too hard into Riley's bad shoulder.

"Ok, but next time, I get to climb on _your_ shoulders," he grunted, finally straightening to his full height.

Abigail wobbled precariously, but they miraculously managed to stay upright. She played her flashlight around the space just above her head. "It does widen out. And there's air coming through here," she said excitedly. "I think it's big enough for us to squeeze through."

"Can you get up there?" I asked doubtfully. She was only up high enough to slide her fingers along the ledge.

She frowned, examining the space. "It looks like there's some handholds here. Riley, if you can push me up a little higher as I pull, I think I can get up."

"No problem," Riley said sarcastically, rolling his neck uncomfortably. "Anything to get you off!"

Abigail took a second to glare down at her ladder before finding the handholds. "Ok, I'm ready."

With much grunting, groaning, and complaining, Riley thrashed around until he was able to get his hands braced under Abigail's feet, while I helped hold her steady with my good hand. Then he pushed upwards while Abigail used her handholds to pull herself up on the ledge.

"Got it!" she said triumphantly.

Riley slid down the wall with a dramatic sigh of relief. "You're paying for the chiropractor!" he called up to her.

Abigail ignored him and scrambled farther onto the narrow ledge. "It's like a tunnel," she reported. "The opening is small, but I think we could squeeze through."

I couldn't be certain in the poor light, but I'm pretty sure Riley turned green at that pronouncement. If he was feeling claustrophobic now...

"It gets wider further on. I can't see how far it goes." She turned back around and leaned over the edge where we could see her. "It's worth a try. If you throw me my pack, I'll try to get the rope hooked up here somewhere so that you two can get up."

I threw her the pack and her hiking boots, and for a few minutes all we could see was the faint light glinting off the rock further back, and hear muted scuffling noises as Abigail worked to attach the rope.

"Uh, Ben? How are you going to climb a rope?" Riley questioned suddenly.

Oh boy.

"Um..." I said brilliantly. "I have no idea."

Abigail reappeared on the shelf, looking pleased. "Ok boys. It's all set." She dropped the end of the rope down to us and then her hopeful expression fell as she too realized our dilemma. "Oh no..."

"To put it mildly." Riley muttered.

_A/N: You know, in reality, it's probably safer to stay put until help comes--if you happen to be dumb enough to get trapped in an abandoned mine shaft. Just a thought. If I paid attention to reality, I probably wouldn't have much of a story. :) Another point to consider-- DON"T GO SETTING SOMEONE"S DISLOCATED SHOULDER IF YOU"RE NOT TRAINED TO DO IT!! Not a good idea. Don't learn your first aid from fanfiction, people!_

_One other thing- the part about jacqueline I just couldn't resist putting in there because we share names! I was so excited to find that out! I have the same name as Riley's girl friend! That means he's mine, right? *ignores looks of disgust from fellow fan girls* ok. fine. He's better as just a friend anyway._


	5. Chapter 5

_AN/ Sorry this took so long guys! Life is crazy, I think everyone will agree!_

_This chapter might seem a little redundant and short, but I hope not too much to stop you enjoying it! Thanks for all the loverly reviews! And thanks especially to my wonderful friend and beta, Raina!_

_One more quick note: I feel __really__ silly about this, but in the first chapter I wrote that they were going rafting on the Snake River; it's not. It's the __**Salmon**__ River.-headdesk- Hopefully I'll get around to fixing that eventually._

_Enjoy! (oh, and did I mention I don't own NT? __:__) _

Chapter 5

Riley's POV

I had had enough of caves! This was seriously one more underground experience too many!

I didn't bother to stifle an irritated groan. I knew what we had to do and I wasn't sure if my back would recover from it. "Ok, so you probably can't climb the rope," I told Ben, "but maybe I can boost you up like I did with Abigail."

They both stared at me. Not really the response I had been looking for.

"What? I don't see how else this is going to work." I spread my arms in a shrug, trying to make my point. "We can't leave Ben behind."

"I'm a lot heavier than Abigail," Ben muttered.

"I doubt it." I snickered, garnering a sharp glare from Abigail up on the shelf. "Come on, guys. Let's do it. I want to get out of here."

Ben sighed. "All right. I can use the rope with my one hand to take some of the weight off of you."

Abigial rolled her eyes and put a hand over her face. "Why don't we just get a job with the circus?"

"What, you mean as acrobats or clowns?" I quipped.

"Clowns," Abigail growled.

Ben took off his boots and tossed them up to Abigail. "Ready?" he asked me.

"Yeah sure, climb aboard." I crouched down and Ben wound his good arm around the rope above my head, using it to help balance as he climbed onto my shoulders. I heard him hiss in pain as he put more weight on his twisted knee, but for the most part the operation was going more smoothly than our first attempt; except that Ben _was_ heavier than Abigail.

"How's it going down there, kid?" he asked.

I momentarily considered dropping him on his head. "Fine. Don't call me kid. I have you under my power and you're in no position to be insulting."

"Bold words coming from the guy I'm standing on," he retorted.

"Yeah, well, if I _accidently_ trip, you're toast," I warned, slowly pushing myself up. Despite my teasing, it was a _lot_ harder than lifting Abigail, and Ben had to pull himself up pretty hard on the rope before I was able to finally get to my feet.

My shoulder was throbbing and my back muscles were sending me warning signals, but I kept up a steady barrage of smart comments to distract myself from the discomfort of Ben standing on my shoulders.

"You know, it's a good thing you're not a big fat guy, or this would be really difficult," I quoted.

Ben snorted. "I'm not fat. And aren't you a little old for Disney movies?"

"The very fact that _you_ know I'm quoting from a Disney movie proves that you never get too old for Disney."

There was a pause. "You're saying I'm old?"

I grinned. "Well now, you set that one up for me, didn't you?"

Finally when I had him high enough, I repeated what I had done with Abigail, squirming around until I could get my hands under his feet and push him up higher. I had to stop talking in order to concentrate on locking my elbows and not dropping him. We wouldn't have been able to pull this off without the rope for extra support.

Abigail leaned over the edge, her feet braced somewhere behind her, and reached down to lend additional help. She grabbed Ben's free arm carefully above the wrist and pulled while Ben levered himself against the wall using the rope with his other hand. At last, the weight came off my arms and Ben scrambled onto the shelf.

We all let out a breath of relief and I took the opportunity to sit down. My arms and spine felt like noodles. Soggy noodles.

"I'll be right up," I panted. "As soon as my limbs start working again."

Suddenly, we all heard an ominous rumbling sound. At first I thought maybe Patrick and Emily had gotten help and were digging us out, but then I realized the sound was coming from the ceiling of the cave and it was getting really loud. If they were digging us out, they were doing it with explosives.

A huge rock dropped from the roof and crashed to the floor three feet away from me.

"Riley, it's caving! Get up here now!" Ben yelled.

I didn't waste time. Being buried alive is not on my 'one-hundred things to do before you turn thirty' list. Forcing my noodle arms to obey, I gripped the rope and started climbing.

I got over halfway before a rock pelted me in the head. It was a small rock and it was kind of a glancing hit, but I still saw birdies. They were doing these fantastic little aerial tricks around my head!

I'm not sure how I managed to hold onto the rope as my vision blurred and my body tried to decide whether to remain conscious or not. Abigail and Ben yelled frantically somewhere above me. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, trying to remember what I was doing, what my name was, and why the heck I had stuck my head into a creepy mine shaft!

My friends' screams and the rumbling behind me brought me back to the moment, and I finished climbing to the shelf with Abigail and Ben helping to pull me up. I rolled onto my back and tried to take a nap right then and there, but Ben grabbed me and propelled me toward the tunnel opening.

"Keep going! The whole thing's coming down. We have to get further in!" he called above the noise.

Further in. Just what I wanted.

Abigail led the way, squeezing quickly through a space that looked only slightly bigger than a mouse hole to me. Now, I'm only a little bigger than Abigail, but the idea of worming through a hole that small really gave me the creeps.

"Riley, go!" Ben said urgently behind me.

My mind froze up. The hit on the head was probably partially to blame. "Ben, I can't!" I winced at the crack in my voice. "It's too small, I mean... we gotta... I really can't!"

"Yes, you can," Ben said firmly, squeezing my shoulder tightly in his good hand. Considering our circumstances, it was remarkable how calm he was.

"Riley, you can do it," he encouraged. "And if you don't, we're going to be crushed by huge rocks," he added with a significant look behind us.

I managed to cock half a smile. "Well, when you put it that way."

Taking a deep breath, wondering duly if it might be my last, I followed Abigail through the opening, squirming and kicking frantically until it widened out enough for me to crawl again.

Ben followed me, and soon we were crawling through the narrow tunnel, single file, at a slightly downward angle. After a while, it widened out, but also angled down sharper, causing us to scrape our hands in an effort not to roll forward.

We emerged into a larger cavern, this one far more natural looking than the one we had just left, which had probably been man-made by explosives. The walls of this chamber were more irregular and older looking, and there were even a few stalactites jutting down from the ceiling here and there.

I didn't notice any of this right away though, because as soon as we came out of the tunnel, Ben told us to lie down and cover our heads as the world behind us continued to collapse.

Gradually, the rumbling in the shaft died down and the three of us cautiously sat up. The destruction hadn't reached us. We were still trapped as far as I knew -maybe even worse than before- but at least we were still alive.

Abigail grinned at me. "You can breathe now, Riley."


	6. Chapter 6

_AN/ OK... a lot of the same stuff going on here. I feel like I'm just writing filler chapters with no real significance! Ah well. I'm still learning. :) I'm working on getting things wrapped up, but my inspiration has been nil lately. Thanks for sticking it out guys!_

Chapter 6

Ben's POV

I crawled over next to Riley and Abigail. Abigail seemed none the worse for her crawl through the tunnel, except that her hands were scraped up a little. Riley however was visibly shaking, and I had not forgotten the rock that had hit him not long ago.

"How's your head, Riley?"

He reached up and felt the back of his head with a wince. "Lumpy," he pronounced.

I smiled. "You've got a hard head, Riley."

"In more ways than one," he replied cheekily. "How 'bout you?"

I painfully flexed my swollen wrist. "No worse than before," I answered. My knee, despite crawling on it, seemed to be in better shape than my wrist.

"Did everyone get their boots?" Abigail asked practically. She had had time to slip hers on before Riley and I climbed up.

Riley groaned. "Forgot mine. I had a few other things on my mind for some reason."

I let him pout for a moment before smugly passing him his hiking boots which I had slung over my shoulder with my own. "Fortunately _some of us_ are on top of things," I teased as he growled and pulled his boots on.

"Ugh! My socks are all dirty!" he complained.

Abigail snorted. "So is the rest of you."

Riley glared at her. "You're one to talk. Honestly Abigail, I had no idea you were actually a brunette."

I tired to stifle a laugh as Abigail swatted at Riley. Abigail's hair was indeed so liberally coated with dust that it looked slightly brown.

I looked at our surroundings, shining the flashlight back and forth through the large chamber. It was much bigger than the hole that had just collapsed behind us. We were on a sloping shelf of sorts, kind of like the rim of large bowl, and when I shined the flashlight below us, I could see water lapping at the sides of the cave at the deepest part. We must have been nearly level with the river.

"Are we still trapped?" Riley asked.

"I don't know," I said absently, still beaming the flashlight around. "That water has to get in somehow, but the opening might be too small and too far away. And there's probably a current or eddy that would push us in the wrong direction."

"Ah, Ben. Always such a cheerful ray of sunshine."

I glared at him. "Just for that, you can swim down and find the opening," I threatened.

"No really, that's ok," he replied sullenly.

"What are we going to do, Ben?" Abigail asked.

I didn't answer at first, hoping an opening would magically appear before my searching flashlight beam. I was really tired after all the excitement earlier, and I knew Abigail and Riley were as well. I glanced at my watch which had miraculously remained undamaged through everything. It was almost midnight. We had started on our walk at 8:00 that evening**. **I tried not think about Mom and Dad worrying about us after all this time.

"Ok, listen, right now, we're all going to rest. As soon as it gets light, there's a possibility I'll be able to see sunlight through the water opening, depending on how deep it is. Right now though, there really isn't anything we can do but wait."

None of us really slept deeply, but we were exhausted, and did manage to doze fitfully through the long hours of the night. I used Abigail's backpack for a lumpy pillow, and Abigail used me. Riley curled up nearby with his sweatshirt tucked beneath his head.

The temperature dropped, not dangerously, but uncomfortably since it was only early summer and we were underground. I wrapped Abigail in my arms as well as I could, trying to keep her warm enough to sleep, but her frequent frustrated sighs and shivers attested to the fact that she couldn't relax. Riley stood up several times in the night to stretch his stiff limbs and rub his arms for warmth before laying back down in a miserable heap again.

Finally, after nodding off for a while, I checked my watch again. It was 5:45. It would soon be light outside and hopefully we'd be able to find a way out. I waited almost an hour before gently waking Abigail so that I could begin my exploration.

Riley heard us shuffling around and woke up, blinking and yawning like an owl, his hair poking out in odd directions. "Breakfast anyone?" he asked with bright sarcasm.

Abigail dug into her pack and threw a granola bar at him. He pouted. "This is _not_ breakfast, Abigail," he complained.

"Riley, when we get out of this, I'll spring for a huge breakfast at IHOP, ok?" I promised.

This seemed to placate him somewhat as he munched on the granola bar. Abigail looked at me sideways. "You are such a softy."

Abigail and I also downed a couple of granola bars, and I had to agree with the kid, it left a lot to be desired as far as a satisfying breakfast went. Finally, I stood up and shrugged out of my jacket and hiking boots, grabbing one of our flashlights. "Ok guys, listen up. I'm going to check out this opening. Hopefully it will be large enough for us to get through, and…" I paused, trying to think of anything else to tell them, but really, that was it. Not overly complicated.

"And if you're not back in sixty seconds, I'm coming to get you," Riley said firmly.

I smiled. For all his dry sarcasm and complaining, Riley is as loyal, brave, and true as any soldier; especially where Abigail and I are concerned. "Sure kid."

Before he could protest, Abigail hugged me tightly. "Ben, be careful, ok?" she pleaded, looking up at me.

"Always." I kissed her softly and walked to the least steep part of the slope, making my way carefully down, until I was standing knee deep in water. It was incredibly cold and I couldn't imagine actually submerging in it, but I would probably have to.

Controlling my shivers, I waded toward the far wall where the water had to come through. It got deeper until it was up to my shoulders. My teeth were starting to chatter, even with my jaw clenched tight, and my muscles felt sluggish.

When I came to the wall, I felt along it's surface as far as my hands could reach without putting my head under. The rock face felt smooth and even, and I could see no sign of daylight when I peered below, but there did seem to be a slight current swirling around my legs.

"What do you see?" Riley called. He and Abigail were perched on the ledge, watching me, and helping by beaming the other flashlight in front of me so I could see.

"Nothing. It's just a wall. I'm going to have to go under to see if I can find an opening." I groaned inwardly at the thought. I felt like my entire body was icing over. If there wasn't an opening, and we were forced to stay in here until someone found us, hypothermia might be a legitimate problem.

"I'm timing you," Riley said.

"Trust me, I'm not staying down there a second longer than I have to," I promised.

I flicked my flashlight on, and took a deep breath, pushing myself under the freezing water.


	7. Chapter 7

-1**Chapter 7**

Riley's POV

"Do you think I should-"

"Riley, he's only been down there for ten seconds," Abigail told me firmly. "Start worrying when he exceeds your stopwatch."

I glanced at my watch. Abigail was right, Ben hadn't been down long, but it _seemed_ long.

"Riley," Abigail put her hand on my shoulder. "Ben's a diver. He knows how to handle himself under water. He'll be fine."

I bit my lip and stared at the spot Ben had disappeared, trying to convince myself that I wasn't worrying about him more than his wife was. That would be weird. After Cibola, when Ben had offered to stay behind so that the rest of us could get out, I had developed a slight paranoia that was bound to kick in anytime danger, Ben, and water were mixed.

My watch read fifty seconds, and I was getting ready to go in when Ben's head broke the surface. He gasped and sucked in air, more from cold than being under too long. He was shivering violently as he waded toward us, but he was smiling. "There's an opening!"

We pulled him onto the shelf and wrapped our sweatshirts around him, for all the good it would do.

_Beep...beep _

My stopwatch went off. Ben looked at me incredulously. "You really timed me?" I looked at the ceiling guiltily and hit the stop button. Ben grinned, but he looked grateful anyway.

"The opening is near the bottom of the pool down there," Ben began to explain, pointing with his flashlight. "Once you get through, you have to swim a ways--it's like a tunnel, but it's plenty big enough for us to get through. I went all the way to the end to make sure before coming back.

"The only problem is that there's a current that tries to push you backwards and toward the top of the tunnel, and there's no air pockets. You have to fight it, but if you use the wall and the ceiling, you can push yourself forward. Just make sure to take a deep breath." He finished with a wry smile.

"Let's go!" I jumped to my feet. I was so tired of being in the dark and the cold; I didn't want to waste a minute.

"You don't think he's anxious or anything, do you, Ben?" Abigail smiled, standing to her feet.

"The water is _really_ cold, Riley," Ben warned.

I inched down the slope after gleefully ditching my hiking boots. "Oh come on, Ben," I scoffed. "It's the middle of July. It can't be _that_ cold."

My feet hit the water and I let out a loud and completely undignified yelp.  
"Sweet converse!" I gasped. "W-water's freakin' c-cold!"

"Big baby," Abigail chuckled. "He tried to warn you."

I glared at her, hugging myself miserably. "P-push her in for me, will ya, Ben?"

"Uh, I would, but these things tend to come back around." Ben threw a nervous grin at Abigail.

Abigail climbed into the water, looking really smug--until she felt the temperature. She shrieked so loudly that it should have finished bringing the cave down on our heads. "Oh it's _so_ _cold_!"

"Yeah, I tried to warn you," I said sarcastically. She punched me in the shoulder and waded deeper towards the wall.

Ben joined us a moment later with barely a gasp. How he managed to be so composed while standing waist deep in zero-degree water I do not know. One of the many irritating things about Ben, I guess.

I followed them to the wall, protesting loudly with every step deeper into the frigid water. Ben pointed below us. "It's about four feet down there, close to the bottom. Riley, you go first, Abigail next, and I'll go last."

"Are you making me go first because I whine more than Abigail?" I asked suspiciously.

"No, I'm making you go first so that you can _help_ Abigail. Now, make sure you take a deep breath, and be careful when you come out that the current doesn't carry you under."

I shuddered through my shivering. The whole deal sounded not the least bit appealing, but I was freezing and tired of being in the dark, so I was ready to give it a try. I shut my eyes for a few seconds and tried to calm my subconscious down a notch before taking a deep breath and pushing myself under.

Putting my head into the water made the temperature just that much worse. It was like having the proverbial needles of ice shooting through my skin. I came close to coming back up just from the shock, but I got a hold of myself and quickly found the hole beneath me.

I couldn't see anything except a faint light somewhere ahead of me, but it wasn't any help, and I had to find my way forward by feeling alone. Taking Ben's advice, I pushed along the rocks at my sides and above me, using them to help me fight the current that was trying to force me back into the cave. It wasn't too hard, but being so cold and not being able to see made it an absolute nightmare.

Finally, when my lungs were beginning to burn in earnest, the light ahead of me got brighter and I could see the actual opening. I kicked and squirmed for all I was worth, and at last I slid through the hole and into the daylight.

As soon as my head broke the surface I felt the river's current pulling me downstream and I had to reorient myself and fight back to the tunnel entrance. The water was well over my head, but I found a rock jutting out from the canyon wall that I was able to brace against while I watched for Abigail.

I told myself I was just being impatient, but it seemed like _forever_ before I saw movement in the tunnel. I reached under the water and found Abigail's arm to help pull her out. Only it wasn't Abigail's head that broke the surface--it was Ben's.

He shook the water out of his eyes and looked around.

"Where's Abigail?" We said at the same time.

My eyes widened in alarm. "Ben, she didn't come up!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Ben's POV

I didn't even give myself time to think. I just took a deep breath and was back under the water before Riley even finished speaking. I didn't know what had happened, but if I wasted any time, it would be too late.

When I got back into the tunnel, I dimly saw Abigail's flashlight lying on the bottom. It only took me a few seconds to locate Abigail. She was floating up against the top of the passage, facedown. I had gone right under her when I had come through before.

She didn't move when I touched her. I grabbed her under the arms and kicked frantically for the opening.

Riley reached in and helped to pull her out, supporting her weight as I got out. Abigail's head was bleeding heavily just above her left eyebrow. "Help me get her to shore!"

Between the two of us we managed to fight our way to shore where we carefully laid Abigail on the sand.

"Ben, I don't think she's breathing," Riley said nervously.

"Try to stop the bleeding on her head," I directed, trying to stay calm. "I'm gonna give her mouth-to-mouth."

I gave her breath and pressed down on her chest several times until finally Abigail's eyes shot open and she began to cough violently. I helped her turn on her side.

"Come on Abigail, you're ok." Riley had taken off his t-shirt and was pressing it to her forehead.

She finally stopped coughing and lay back down with a shudder, looking up at us through cloudy eyes. "I'm all right…" She said shakily. "Are you both ok?"

I breathed a sigh of relief and hugged her. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes, Ben, I'm all right." She rolled her eyes and kissed me. "I lost my hold on the rocks and the current pushed me to the top and I hit my head."

"Pretty sure I saw a big crack in the rock," Riley commented, "was that from your head?"

"Shut up, Riley," Abigail laughed. Then she winced and looked at the wrinkled, bloody t-shirt she had been pressing to her forehead. "I guess I owe you a shirt."

"Ah, don't mention it. I can probably afford another one."

I looked up at canyon walls, which cleverly disguised the cave we had been trapped in. I pointed up the river. "Mom and Dad should be that way."

I helped Abigail to her feet and we started walking. I kept a close eye on Abigail to make sure she was really all right. She kept Riley's t-shirt pressed to her head, but otherwise she seemed to be fine. That wasn't going to stop me from checking her into a hospital the first chance I got. Riley too, for that matter.

"You really think it'll be just your mom and dad over there?" Riley asked sceptically.

"No," I answered slowly. "We'll be lucky if they haven't called out the Marines."

Staying close to the river, we found the raft about two miles from where we had come out of the cave, and as we suspected, our raft had been joined by three others bearing the insignia of Search and Rescue.

We started up the trail just as we had the night before, and soon we approached the group of people digging into the collapsed shaft--looking for our bodies no doubt. I felt suddenly like Tom Sawyer spying on his own funeral.

Mom saw us first. "Ben!" she yelled, running toward me and wrapping me in a fierce hug. "Oh, Ben, thank God you're safe."

As soon as Dad took over hugging me, Mom moved on to Abigail and Riley. I smiled at the high-pitched protests of Riley as Mom hugged him. He liked it, I knew, but he would never admit it.

Everyone was talking at once, crying, asking questions, and fretting about injuries (that would be Mom), but all I could think about was that my family was safe and the sky looked beautiful after a night spent in a cave, not sure if I would live or die. All stories would be told in time.

--

_Epilogue_

Riley's POV

Rather than letting a little thing like nearly dying in a malevolent cave get us down, we decided to finish up our trip. After all, if you're going to let near-death experiences stop you from having fun you might as well stay home, right?

Ben was reluctant at first, insisting that Abigail and I needed more medical attention than the S-and-R paramedics could provide (never mind his _own_ injuries). But at the suggestion of going home early, Abigail fixed him with _such_ a look that Ben shut up and began examining some interesting geological specimens near his feet. We would finish the trip, although after the paramedics got done with me, my arm (the shoulder of which was on the excruciating side of sore at this point) was put in a sling, no arguments on my side being heeded. No more swimming for me, but it did provide whining rights, and insurance against Patrick pushing me into the water again. Pretty good trade off if you ask me.

The rest of the trip went by without incident, except for all the stuff you would expect--like Abigail and Emily weighing down our raft with a bunch of _pretty_ rocks they found. Oh, and they made Patrick pack them to the raft, which was funny, but only because Ben and I got out of it.

All the same, I was really happy to get home again at the end of the week. Sleeping in a bed is definitely _not_ overrated, and the relaxing sound of sirens blaring was a nice change from the eerie night sounds one hears in a canyon. Yep, it was good to be home in good ol' crime-infested D.C.

Ben called two days after we got home.

"Hey Riley, we're planning a trip to Brazil, since we had so much fun on this one. Want to come?"

Oh brother. Apparently _someone_ had too much time on his hands. I could tell by his voice that he was most definitely kidding. Like a jaunt through snake infested rain-forest was just what we needed now, right?

"Sorry," I said sarcastically. "Wrong number, dude." I hung up with a snort and went back to my game of solitaire. Brazil indeed.

END

_AN/ Well, it didn't take me as long as I thought it would to finish it, but as a result, the ending was a bit more rushed than I would have liked; a lot shorter too. Apologies for that! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks to all of you for sticking with me, and for all the lovely, encouraging reviews! They give me warm fuzzies all over! I love you guys!_

_So, anyone like Star Trek (the cheesy old originals)? Because believe it or not, that's what I'm working on next. Just goes to show you never know what crazy fandom you might fall into. Anyhoo, it is my first attempt at a humour fic, so we'll see what happens. If there seems to be some interest, and if I can get enough of it written to where I'm fairly certain of finishing, I'll start posting it pretty soon. So let me know if there's any Trekkies among this NT crowd!_


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